'I Felt Like a Criminal': Conversion Therapy Quietly Persists Among Religious Lesbians in Israel

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'I Felt Like a Criminal': Conversion Therapy Quietly Persists Among Religious Lesbians in Israel
Haaretz (Israel)

Even the religious public understands today that conversion therapy for gay men causes serious harm. But what about lesbians? A first study of its kind reveals how widespread the practice is among them – and the scars it leaves on their psyches

It happened during lights-out. Racheli's homeroom teacher entered her dormitory room and saw the teenager and her good friend sitting close to each other on the bed. Too close, the teacher thought, and summoned Racheli (a pseudonym) for a talk.

But for Racheli, then in 11th grade at a prestigious ulpana – a high school for religious girls – it had all begun long before.

...

Conversion therapy, which professionals refer to as Sexual Orientation Change Efforts, has been part of the therapeutic domain for men and women both here and abroad for decades. Psychological and other treatment, including electric-shock therapy, sterilization, chemical castration, various types of behavioral therapy, nausea-inducing drugs, psychoactive substances and even sending people to sex workers – all these interventions have been based on a cultural assumption to the effect that homosexuality is not normative behavior, that it is a sin or a mental disorder that can be cured or somehow transformed.

...

The Israeli government is fairly gay-friendly in a general way,
but for political reasons it's hands off the religious crazies.

[marble falls]

1. Yikes. Religiosity is a fucking curse on anyone it roots into.

[ShazzieB]

2. Wow, those poor women. ☹️

That was fascinating and horrifying, all at the same time.


I never realized that the negative impact of "conversion therapy" on lesbians has been studied so much less thoroughly than the effects on gay men. Sounds like an area that's ripe for some researchers to get busy on.

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3. Conversion therapy has an interesting *secular* background.

In the 1950s when "operant conditioning" (think Clockwork Orange) was all the rage, someone got the bright idea it could be used to "cure" homosexuality. But when that didn't work, the medical profession abandoned the idea. Still no political controversy about homosexuality at that point, just medical science trying and rejecting something that does not work.

So unlike a lot of other quackery, conversion therapy has been thoroughly scientifically studied and disproven in a context of there not being any political controversy about the outcome.

But later various fundamentalist religious crazies picked it up again and threw in a little prayer to make it look nice.
Fancy that. Religious fundamentalists having faith in operant conditioning. Sort of gives the game away.